Born at Massie, Ontario, near Georgian Bay, he was raised on a farm where he became interested in drawing animals at an early age. Later he lived in Toronto where he studied evenings at the Ontario College of Art. He then moved to New York City where he took further study under Frank Vincent DuMond and Dean Cornwell at the Art Students’ League.
In 1947 his work was shown in Montreal at the Continental Galleries. One of these paintings was reproduced in The Gazette with the following caption, “ ‘Laurentian Homestead, March’… is a good example of this young Canadian artist’s interpretation of a crisp, fine day when the snow sparkles and shadows are blue. The characteristic house is well put in, the trim of the door and windows supplying high notes of colour, and the sturdy horses reveal his skill in painting animals.” In the years that followed Lougheed’s paintings were exhibited at the Roberts Gallery, Toronto (1958); The Canadian Art Galleries, Calgary (1958); the Kennedy Galleries, Inc., NYC (1959).
The artist worked as an illustrator for the Toronto Star, National Geographic, and Reader's Digest. He designed Mobil's "flying red horse" logo and was commissioned by the US Post Office to design the six cent buffalo stamp for the Wildlife Conservation Series. He helped to form the National Academy of Western Art at the Phoenix Art Museum in Arizona. He also taught and mentored many of today's finest wilderness artists. Lougheed was awarded the Western Heritage Award in 1966 and gold medals for painting by the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in 1969 and 1972. His work can be viewed at the Cowboy Hall of Fame. Robert Lougheed was an easel painter and always painted as well as taught his pupils to paint directly from nature. He died in Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1982.
Source: "A Dictionary of Canadian Artists, Volume II”, compiled by Colin S. MacDonald, Canadian Paperbacks Publishing Ltd, Ottawa, 1979
